Woman charged with driving drunk, wrong way on Merritt Parkway

TRUMBULL - A Bethel woman was charged Wednesday with driving drunk and the wrong way on the Merritt Parkway and injuring a father and son.

Ali Wakeman, 25, of Durant Avenue, was charged with second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, first-degree reckless endangerment, operating under the influence and driving the wrong way.

She was being held in lieu of $40,000 bond.

On Oct. 20, 2017, state police responded to the scene of a crash on the Merritt Parkway here.

When troopers arrived, they found a Toyota sedan, driven by Wakeman, stopped against the center median with heavy front-end damage. Nearby was a Dodge van with heavy damage to the driver’s side door and side, police said.

The driver of the van, Daniel Pratt, was slumped over in the seat. Both he and his 16-year-old son, who was in the front passenger seat, were taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center where police said they were treated for chest and abdominal injuries.

Police said Wakeman had to be extricated from her car by firefighters and she was also taken to the hospital where her blood/alcohol level was later found to be .23 or nearly three times the legal limit.

While in the emergency room, police said Wakeman asked them, “Am I going to be arrested for DUI?”

State police said witnesses told them Wakeman had been driving the wrong way and would have struck Pratt head on if he had not swerved in time.